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Video editing, 320GB enough
- Thread starter ajo
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I'm not a video editor, but I imagine the answer to your question is relative.
It's depends on what a "little" means and how long a "while " is, and then what sort of video you're editing (quality wise) and with what program.
It's depends on what a "little" means and how long a "while " is, and then what sort of video you're editing (quality wise) and with what program.
Providing you're not doing anything in HD there will be plenty of space. However, I find that using the OSX system drive results in quite a bit of fragmentation, so have an external FireWire drive to use as a scratch area when working on a project. For you it depends on how big your projects are.
I suggest having multiple hard drives. I have 3 in my Mac pro. One for the system, one for my work, and another for storage and render files.
I don;t do HD work, but i watched my 250 shrink rapidly. So i went and purchased a 500. My system resides on a 80gig drive, which is enough room for a ton of apps and settings.
You can never have enough space when it comes to video.
I don;t do HD work, but i watched my 250 shrink rapidly. So i went and purchased a 500. My system resides on a 80gig drive, which is enough room for a ton of apps and settings.
You can never have enough space when it comes to video.
DV video is 13GB per hour of footage....you can use that to calculate whether or not you have enough space for your project.
I used to think 320 gigs was enough, but I don't think it is.
Since I have a Mac Pro, I was able to put 5 hard drives inside of it.
It sounds like you are getting an iMac?
Since I have a Mac Pro, I was able to put 5 hard drives inside of it.
It sounds like you are getting an iMac?
Buy an external firefire 800 HDD 500GB or better
it will be pleanty fast for working with video (most of your time will be encoding)
it will be pleanty fast for working with video (most of your time will be encoding)
The More The Merrier
DV NTSC Renders from certain apps, with no compression, a lot higher than 13 GB hr.
It Compresses down to that, but that's another thread.
I would get at least 2 Firewire HD's,
The 500-750 GB drives are coming down in price a lot over the last 6 months, & It's a good investment if you need them.
I had a 500, 250, & a 100 GB external on my last project & I still had to transfer some things off, till needed again. Not to mention doing backups.
Made my last DVD backups of the finished project (2 1/2 years + of work 5645 Hours) & 2 weeks later, my 250 GB died.
Moral to that one: Backup to DVD/Other media periodically.
Saved My Buttocks.
DV NTSC Renders from certain apps, with no compression, a lot higher than 13 GB hr.
It Compresses down to that, but that's another thread.
I would get at least 2 Firewire HD's,
The 500-750 GB drives are coming down in price a lot over the last 6 months, & It's a good investment if you need them.
I had a 500, 250, & a 100 GB external on my last project & I still had to transfer some things off, till needed again. Not to mention doing backups.
Made my last DVD backups of the finished project (2 1/2 years + of work 5645 Hours) & 2 weeks later, my 250 GB died.
Moral to that one: Backup to DVD/Other media periodically.
Saved My Buttocks.
if you are going to do less than 3 projects a month, start with what you have
If you are going to be running multiple projects, HD, or averaging 2 or more projects a month, then get an external
eSATA if you can hook it up to your computer
FW800 if your computer supports it
FW400 as last resort, but works fine for DV/HDV (less than 4 streams)
The Quad from G-Technology is pricey, but very flexible for you future needs and they make reliable eHDs. If you're going to get an external, do the math and find the sweet spot in the price points. Higher capacity, but not the highest one is usually about right.
iMovie '08 is pretty amazing if you're not already running FC.
I'm probably going to get flamed for this, but after having talked with and watched a presentation on iMovie '08 by it's creator, I believe it is a few generations ahead of Final Cut. It's missing a LOT of features and people are screaming for '07 back, but I believe it's the direction of future video editing.
My hearty recommendation to anyone that is not a professional or already heavily invested into Vegas, Avid, FC, to really spend the time in iMovie '08. I believe it fulfills 80%+ of what most people would be doing in the pricier programs.
If you are going to be running multiple projects, HD, or averaging 2 or more projects a month, then get an external
eSATA if you can hook it up to your computer
FW800 if your computer supports it
FW400 as last resort, but works fine for DV/HDV (less than 4 streams)
The Quad from G-Technology is pricey, but very flexible for you future needs and they make reliable eHDs. If you're going to get an external, do the math and find the sweet spot in the price points. Higher capacity, but not the highest one is usually about right.
iMovie '08 is pretty amazing if you're not already running FC.
I'm probably going to get flamed for this, but after having talked with and watched a presentation on iMovie '08 by it's creator, I believe it is a few generations ahead of Final Cut. It's missing a LOT of features and people are screaming for '07 back, but I believe it's the direction of future video editing.
My hearty recommendation to anyone that is not a professional or already heavily invested into Vegas, Avid, FC, to really spend the time in iMovie '08. I believe it fulfills 80%+ of what most people would be doing in the pricier programs.
Final Cut Pro's standard DV NTSC setup is 13GB/hr for DV video. 500-750GB is overkill for the OP imho.
On zee MacPro.. I've used 200GB just in raw DV and thats around 8/9 music gigs that I recorded. So, as said already, it really does depend on how much you plan on recording and editing.
If you arent sure how much you will be doing (which sounds odd anyway) then start off with a nice 250GB FW drive (always FW) and see how you get on, if you find you need more space, then get another. Simple.
If you arent sure how much you will be doing (which sounds odd anyway) then start off with a nice 250GB FW drive (always FW) and see how you get on, if you find you need more space, then get another. Simple.
Esata/usb hard drives aren't very expensive and esata is faster than firewire 800. If you can hook up esata to your computer (I use an express card adapter I bought for $40 on newegg.com) than I would say go that direction. I haven't seen any dropped frames using this set-up with the Lacie Quadra; However, I wouldn't recommend buying the Quadra.
I would guess that if you're just planning to use Imovie to cut a couple hours of home movies together that you would probably be fine with using the 320gb hard drive and that you wouldn't have that much of a problem with dropped frames. If your trying to keep cost down by using an existing hard drive you could probably get away with using a usb if you have nothing else. You might get a couple of dropped frames and practice your patience a little bit but no biggy
I would guess that if you're just planning to use Imovie to cut a couple hours of home movies together that you would probably be fine with using the 320gb hard drive and that you wouldn't have that much of a problem with dropped frames. If your trying to keep cost down by using an existing hard drive you could probably get away with using a usb if you have nothing else. You might get a couple of dropped frames and practice your patience a little bit but no biggy
Another one for external firewire 800 drive and 500GB+ 16MB cache. I have done so myself and firewire 800 screams. Perfectly suitable for DV and HDV.
Whatever you do, don't get a USB2.0 drive. It doesn't have the sustained read/write that even firewire 400 has (while yes, it can burst faster than firewire400) Unless you're doing HDV (Sony's HD format) or another high end HD format, you really don't need a Firewire 800 drive.
It all depends on the types of projects you will be doing. Are you planning to put family tapes straight to dvd? Where you can import, then burn, then erase the project. Not so much required.
Or will you be importing 10 tapes and cutting them all together?
If the latter, 320 should be enough...as that will give you enough room for Render files, and making dvd images to burn.
It all depends on the types of projects you will be doing. Are you planning to put family tapes straight to dvd? Where you can import, then burn, then erase the project. Not so much required.
Or will you be importing 10 tapes and cutting them all together?
If the latter, 320 should be enough...as that will give you enough room for Render files, and making dvd images to burn.